Blood sugar monitoring

[Kafalf]

Hi I was diagnosed T2 Dec 2015 with an Hba1c of 9.8 I had no symptoms and I'm not overweight with a bmi of 22. Nurse put me on 1000mg metformin 1 in the morning & 1 in the evening I've had no side effects. In March 2016 Hba1c was 7.2 all checks were fine. In May 2016 I started feeling unwell very tired, thirsty, passing urine more, blurred vision, feeling sick & hungry all the time. 4 weeks ago I had a very painful episode of shingles on my follow up with the GP I told them all my symptoms also I'm eating loads and not putting any weight on (I've started loosing weight now ) my Hba1c has gone up to 10.2. GP has asked me to monitor my blood sugars which range between 11 to 25 my diet is very good, GP has also increased metformin to 2000mg a day. My brother & identical twin sister are both T1. Do you think I need insulin? I just want to feel well again with some energy

 

[Squire Fulwood]

my diet is very good,

I think you need to provide more detail. Everyone thinks their diet is healthy, usually because they like it and don't want to change but if you diet is a contributory cause then then we need to know about the carbohydrates.

 

[Kafalf]

I low carb typical day for me is 2 slices of warburtons wholemeal toast with butter for breakfast, tuna, ham chicken salad or sandwich for lunch with a piece of fruit, evening meal bololgnese with salad, chicken or fish all homemade no jars, if I do eat carbs it's very small portions. I've always eaten well I've probably been too cautious

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Most if not all of us type 2's cannot eat bread without spiking. Your Warburtons will give you about 17gms per slice. A lunchtime sandwich made with unspecified bread will probably be worse and the spaghetti in your evening salad will need to be checked with a meter.

I am not saying don't enjoy your food but for many type 2's the bread and spaghetti is a no no. At least it shows a couple of things you can alter should you have to.

I don't know if you will need insulin but there seems to be some dietary changes possible. The losing weight might be a problem if you are not large already.

 

[Kafalf]

Thanks for the info I don't eat the pasta only the meat with salad any ideas what I can eat instead of bread?

 

[NathanDiabetic]

i dont know

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Some people just give up bread as a lost cause. Burgen bread is a bit lower in calories and Lidl do some high protein rolls which are good but if it proves to be a problem then giving up regular bread completely may be necessary. There are some speciality bread mixes that you can get from places like Holland and Barratt but they are extremely expensive. Spend some time reading the low carb forum on this site or looking at the recipes on Diet Doctor and you may come up with an answer that suits you.

I gave up bread apart from a couple of slices of Burgen a week.

 

[Jay-Marc]

Some ideas in this thread: Substitute for bread.

You may find after a while that you just drop these off as well. The most difficult in a way is the sandwich as it is handy on the move where a loose meal or wrapping things in lettuce is not so convenient.

 

[Kafalf]

Some people just give up bread as a lost cause. Burgen bread is a bit lower in calories and Lidl do some high protein rolls which are good but if it proves to be a problem then giving up regular bread completely may be necessary. There are some speciality bread mixes that you can get from places like Holland and Barratt but they are extremely expensive. Spend some time reading the low carb forum on this site or looking at the recipes on Diet Doctor and you may come up with an answer that suits you.

I gave up bread apart from a couple of slices of Burgen a week.

Good idea to give it up, baby gem lettuce leaves are good topped with a filling I've had the rolls from Lidl will stock up on these when I fancy bread

 

[Kafalf]

Some ideas in this thread: Substitute for bread.

You may find after a while that you just drop these off as well. The most difficult in a way is the sandwich as it is handy on the move where a loose meal or wrapping things in lettuce is not so convenient.

Thanks will have a look

 

[Jay-Marc]

Also test afterwards to see what suits you best. Oatcakes are no good for me, but I found I get little spike from the low carb breads/rolls in moderation. Other people find they are the other way around.

 

[Hiitsme]

Has your GP taken onboard that your identical twin sister and brother are both type1? It might be worth asking your GP for tests to see if you are late onset type 1. Weight loss and higher blood sugars need to be investigated. If this is the case then you would need insulin.
Have a look at the threads in Type 1.5/LADA
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/type-1-5-lada-diabetes.41/

 

[Kafalf]

Has your GP taken onboard that your identical twin sister and brother are both type1? It might be worth asking your GP for tests to see if you are late onset type 1. Weight loss and higher blood sugars need to be investigated. If this is the case then you would need insulin.
Have a look at the threads in Type 1.5/LADA
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/type-1-5-lada-diabetes.41/

Yes they have I've had a GAD test done awaiting the results, hopefully will get sorted soon as the sickness feeling is awful but my twin seems to think this could be due to ketones!!! GP has advised me to go to A&E if I start vomiting but so far so good no vomiting . I attended the Desmond course in January and the nurse then said I should query my diagnosis but at the time I felt very well

 

[Energize]

Yes they have I've had a GAD test done awaiting the results, hopefully will get sorted soon as the sickness feeling is awful but my twin seems to think this could be due to ketones!!! GP has advised me to go to A&E if I start vomiting but so far so good no vomiting . I attended the Desmond course in January and the nurse then said I should query my diagnosis but at the time I felt very well

Hi
Yes, I'm surprised no one, other than HiitsMe, has suggested you ask for further investigations, although I'm no expert at all. To me, with my lack of knowledge, it does rather sound like some others who, initially, were diagnosed with Type 2 but, on continuing high blood glucose, thirst etc, have been found to be Type 1 after all. As you have siblings with Type 1, I, personally, would want to be investigated for Type 1.

As for eating bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, pastry/flour etc, I've also had to stop eating it although, having said that, for the past couple of days, I've been having Burgen bread and Peanut butter late morning as I've been going hypo but I suspect this is because I've lost quite a bit of weight so am hoping my Glipizide can soon be reduced. As a result, at the moment, my weight isn't dropping - I'm having to eat some carbs

 

[catapillar]

Yes they have I've had a GAD test done awaiting the results, hopefully will get sorted soon as the sickness feeling is awful but my twin seems to think this could be due to ketones!!! GP has advised me to go to A&E if I start vomiting but so far so good no vomiting . I attended the Desmond course in January and the nurse then said I should query my diagnosis but at the time I felt very well

Do you actually have ketones? Do you have a way to test for ketones?

With blood sugars up in the 20s and some of the symptoms you are reporting I would be concerned about possible DKA. Waiting until you are vomitting to go to A&E might not necessarily be the most sensible approach. If you do have ketones, you should call 111 and ask for advice.

Here's some info on dka symptoms - http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-complications/diabetic-ketoacidosis.html

You have an identical twin with type 1, you are losing weight without trying and you have have uncontrolled blood sugars. Obviously I'm not a doctor, but everything points to you being type 1 (and that would mean that you will require insulin, which will make you feel better).

 

[Kafalf]

Do you actually have ketones? Do you have a way to test for ketones?

With blood sugars up in the 20s and some of the symptoms you are reporting I would be concerned about possible DKA. Waiting until you are vomitting to go to A&E might not necessarily be the most sensible approach. If you do have ketones, you should call 111 and ask for advice.

Here's some info on dka symptoms - http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-complications/diabetic-ketoacidosis.html

You have an identical twin with type 1, you are losing weight without trying and you have have uncontrolled blood sugars. Obviously I'm not a doctor, but everything points to you being type 1 (and that would mean that you will require insulin, which will make you feel better).

I starting checking my urine for ketones when I was at work (I work in a clinic.) GP told me they don't use urine to test anymore so I stopped doing it. Thanks for your comments

 

[catapillar]

I starting checking my urine for ketones when I was at work (I work in a clinic.) GP told me they don't use urine to test anymore so I stopped doing it. Thanks for your comments

So did you have ketones when you were testing?

Does your brother/sister have a blood ketone metre you could check yourself with?

 

[Kafalf]

Yes I had ketones in my urine, I'm not sure if they have metres I'll check this out.

 

[catapillar]

Yes I had ketones in my urine, I'm not sure if they have metres I'll check this out.

And was the GP aware that you have ketones in your urine?

Any idea on the level? To be honest, any ketones with your blood sugar levels and your symptoms is too many and I would be calling 111 for advice now.

 

[Kafalf]

Yes GP aware of ketones in urine but was told not to worry about this. When testing ketones were always ++ & +++.